Akashic Books Has a Posse
When St. Martin’s published Tender As Hellfire back in 1999, Joe Meno met with strong critical reception, and the book did well enough commercially, but after his editor left the company, his support dried up, then the same thing happened to his second book at HarperCollins. After that, he says, there was a moment where he thought the only way Hairstyles of the Damned might get published was if he updated all the references to bands from the early ’90s to satisfy one hip-oriented imprint editorial suggestions. Then he met Johnny Temple of Brooklyn-based indie press Akashic Books, and author and press have enjoyed a happy relationship ever since. When Akashic expressed interest in bringing Tender As Hellfire back into print, Meno took another look at the novel, which he wrote when he was 22 years old. “I could have used some editing,” he says of his reaction. “I was surprised how much I got away with. It was just really overwritten, places where I used three adjectives when one would’ve been enough. But I felt really strongly about the characters.” So he took the opportunity to rework the story, which he estimates is now “maybe 15% percent” shorter than the original version.
Chris Abani (left) is in a slightly different situation, in that his relationship with the big publishers has been less turbulent. But even he’s not immune to commercial pressures, so when his agent was reluctant to pitch a novella called Becoming Abigail to the majors (“for all the usual reasons,” Abani says sympathetically), he remembered meeting Akashic publisher Johnny Temple at the Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica, and put the manuscript in an envelope along with a copy of his novel GraceLand. That experience went so well that he’s gone back to Akashic for a second novella, the just-published Song for Night. “And my agent’s on board now,” Abani laughs. “She’ll say, ‘This is your Akashic book, and this is your mainstream book.’ It’s great: I get to have my big publisher’s life and this indie subculture life.”
The two authors are currently on the road with “label-mate” Felicia Luna Lemus, and though they each write very different types of books, they enjoy the camaraderie that has developed. “It’s like being part of a gang,” Meno says, “and reading with the others makes you want to do your best, too.” Abani adds, “You’re part of a tradition, no matter how different your individual styles may be, and that can be very humbling.”
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